Features / Investigations
Bristol’s oldest cold case murder
Exactly 70 years ago, the manager of the Odeon Cinema on Union Street was murdered in his office.
Still unsolved, the killing is now the oldest cold case still being reviewed by Avon & Somerset Police.
It was a sensational story. 32-year-old Robert Parrington Jackson had just returned to work after six years in the Royal Navy. He was a dashing, dinner-jacketed manager who had acted in films, driven across America and worked as a radio announcer.
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On the evening of May 29, 1946, Jackson was found dying on the floor of his office. He’d been shot in the head.
Contemporary reports claim that between 6.30pm and 6.45pm, “Six shots rang out. Five of them were on the soundtrack of The Light That Failed. The sixth was for real.”
Jackson never regained consciousness and died later at the Bristol Royal Infirmary with his wife at his bedside. He also left a four-year-old daughter.
A cartridge was recovered from the scene but despite police casting a dragnet across the city and beyond, his murderer was never caught.
Reports at the time detailed the extent of the police operation: “While a watch was being maintained at Temple Meads and other West-country stations and at Avonmouth and other docks, police officers were taking statement after statement.
“All likely places, including blitzed ruins, have been combed for the weapon, but so far without result.”
The police worked on two theories: that Jackson returned to his office and surprised the intruder or he was shot during an argument. No money had been taken and the key to the safe was found in the dying man’s pocket.
The murder became one of Bristol’s most notorious murder cases and despite a death bed confession of a petty thief it remains open and under review by Avon & Somerset Police cold case unit.
The notoriety of the case lingers and since the murder the Union Street building (H&M now takes what used to be the foyer of the cinema, which also had a restaurant) has reportedly been plagued by paranormal activity and has been exorcised twice.
Ghost tour guide John Hughes said that many ushers would not work in Screen 3 after one notorious incident: “A man was sat in the third row of the cinema and remained in his seat after the film finished.
“When he was asked to leave by one of the ushers he simply disappeared into the seat.”
Photo credits: Paul Townsend
Read more: The ghosts of Bristol’s past